a penny for your thoughts & a rose for your past
by ausllydawmoon
Summary: Every moment I'm with you, thrills me like Paris in June./Or where he's secretly a prince from the other side of the world going to an American boarding school for fun and she not-so-secretly hates people and has been sent off to boarding school against her will for years. Spoiler alert: it's love at first sight. Auslly. Three-Shot.
1. Chapter 1

"Ah, Prince Austin Moon, welcome to Seaside Academy," the dean says as soon as Austin walks through the door. "I'm Dean Williams. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Austin shakes his outstretched hand firmly. "The pleasure's all mine, sir."

Dean Williams smiles. "Have a seat." Austin obliges, and tries not to show his nerves. "I wanted to introduce myself and answer any questions you may have for me before you're thrown into this new situation."

"Will I have a roommate?" Austin asks.

"You will. Your application said you want to have the same experience as any other foreign exchange student. But I also understand that you need to keep your status a secret. You aren't the first exchange student we've had in this situation, and your roommate is one of the few specially chosen students who are trusted to help you fit in and feel comfortable. His name is Dez Wade, and he's the only person here other than me who will ever know your status as royalty."

Austin nods. "Thank you. Do you have any advice for me, sir?"

The dean smiles again. "Learn as much as you can and try to enjoy yourself. Is that all?"

"I think so."

"Well, if you think of any more questions or you have any problems, don't hesitate to come see me."

"Thanks again, sir."

"Of course. Now, here's the key to your dorm, a map of the campus, and your class schedule. And here are the clothes you'll need for school. In this bag, you'll find five white button-down shirts, three pairs of pants, two ties, two sweater vests and one blazer. You have about a week before school starts to settle in while all the students arrive from all over." Dean Williams passes the bag of clothes, key, schedule, and map across his desk to Austin and then stands up. Austin takes the items and follows suit. "I hope you enjoy Seaside Academy, Your Highness."

Austin smiles slightly. "I will, Dean Williams."

His dorm isn't far from the administration building, but he takes as long as he can to get there. He knows his roommate will be great, considering he's done this before and the dean spoke so highly of him, but that doesn't mean Austin isn't nervous to meet him.

Eventually, he arrives at the door. Taking a deep breath, Austin enters the room and tries his best not to looks nervous.

The first thing he sees is a flash of bright red hair, and then a grin. "You must be Austin. I'm Dez," he says, holding out his hand.

Austin nods and shakes it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I sorta already took the bed on the left, but if you want it we can totally switch."

Austin frowns slightly. "No, the right bed is fine. Is there something wrong with it?"

"No, not at all," Dez says, shaking his head quickly. "It's just, some of the other princes and dukes and nobility I've roomed with are super particular about that kind of thing. I just wanna make sure you're comfortable."

Austin finds himself smiling as he sets his bags down on his bed. "Thank you. But I'm not particular. I'm just happy to be here."

"Wait…you _want_ to be here?"

"Well, yeah. Why else would I come?"

"Usually the noble exchange students are forced here by their parents. But not you?"

"Not me," Austin confirms with a shake of his head. "I wanted to come study abroad in America."

"That's actually really cool. So, where are you from, exactly? If you don't mind me asking, of course. I like your accent, but I can't tell where it's from."

"I'm from a small island off the coast of Italy," he says. "It's called Ocheria, but it's so small you can't even find it on a map."

"Oh, that's interesting. Makes you wonder just how many little islands there are that the majority of the world doesn't even know about."

Austin nods, and the boys finish unpacking their bags in a comfortable silence. Then, Dez gives Austin a tour of the campus, which actually just turns out to be a walk to the closest coffee shop and then the quad.

"Yeah, this is where a lot of kids hang out on their downtime during the week. You can see the beach, and the weather's usually pretty nice. A lot of people study out here, too. And there's usually some sort of activity going on."

Austin tries to pay attention to what Dez is saying, but he finds himself getting distracted. "Hey Dez," he says. The redhead looks at him, but he's fixated on a girl resting under a tree. "Who's that?"

Dez follows his gaze. "The brunette over there?" Austin nods. "That's Ally Dawson. She's not very good at school, and her parents refused to accept anything but perfection, so she kinda stopped caring. Then her parents started shipping her off here so they wouldn't have to deal with her. I don't think she's your type."

"I don't understand."

"Well…you just seem so nice, and she's, well, not all that nice. She doesn't really like people."

"I'm gonna go talk to her."

"Whoa, were you listening to anything I just said?"

"Yes," Austin says, already starting to walk over to her.

"Then what are you doing?" Dez asks, keeping pace with Austin.

Austin doesn't answer, and they arrive at the tree where Ally is resting. Austin clears his throat, and she opens one eye.

"Hey, Ally," Dez says, sounding nervous. "Sorry to bother you – "

"Who's the new kid?" she asks, apparently not caring that Dez wasn't finished speaking.

"I'm Austin Moon," Austin says with a smile, kneeling down next to her.

"Ally Dawson."

Austin holds a hand out, and Ally knits her eyebrows together. But she sits up and starts shaking his hand. Forgetting that he isn't supposed to be acting like royalty, he kisses the back of her hand out of habit. She raises her eyebrows.

Realizing his mistake, he releases her hand. "Forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds," he says. "You're quite beautiful."

"Uh…thanks."

"Alright, that's enough of that. C'mon, Austin. I'm gonna finish the tour." Dez grabs his arm and pulls him up off the ground. "Sorry again to bother you, Ally. Won't happen again."

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Austin tells her as Dez drags him away. She simply lays back down and closes her eyes again. Austin looks at Dez, and the redhead releases his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Maybe let's tone down the hand-kissing and big, random compliments. It's all very chivalrous, but unfortunately chivalry is dead in America. And Ally Dawson isn't really the type for things like that, anyway. She's pretty unapproachable and abrasive."

"We just approached her. She seems nice," Austin says.

"I'm one of the few people she'll talk to. It's really best if you stay away from her. She's just gonna be mean to you. And besides," he adds, lowering his voice, "if anyone is gonna figure you out, it'll be her."

Austin frowns. "Well…if you say so…But she really is beautiful, isn't she?"

"I mean, I guess. In a weird, terrifying, stray kitten surviving on its own sort of way."

"I don't think she's weird or terrifying. And I don't quite understand that last part."

Dez is silent for a second as he takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "Never mind."

"You said you're one of the few people she talks to. Doesn't that make you friends with her?" Austin asks.

"Not exactly. We have a…complicated relationship." Austin raises his eyebrows expectantly, and Dez sighs and continues. "Her best friend Trish de la Rosa and I have known each other since we were kids, and we're friends sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Austin asks.

"Once you meet Trish, you'll get it. Anyway, I don't really have many other friends here because most people think I'm weird and all my roommates for the past few years have been exchange students like you, which means I end up hanging out with Ally and Trish. And since most people are afraid of Ally and she hates everyone, not many people other than me hang out with them either. So we're more like outcast _allies_ than friends, per se," Dez explains.

"Seems close enough to friendship for me," Austin says. "I didn't know anyone my age back home, except the royal kids of our allies who would only come to visit a few times a year."

"That's kinda sad. But really, I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to Ally. There are plenty of other beautiful, sweet girls here who I'm sure would love to be friends with you."

"I'll be friends with them, too. I just have to be careful Ally doesn't figure out my secret, and then I can be friends with her," Austin says more to himself than to Dez.

Dez gives him a look. "You're gonna try to befriend her no matter what I say, aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

* * *

When classes start, Austin finds himself sitting next to Ally in English. She rarely acknowledges him, probably because Dez isn't around, but he tries his best to connect with her anyway.

"I noticed you drawing in your notebook yesterday," Austin tells her as they sit down before class. "You're very talented."

"You should really mind your own business," she says flatly, not even glancing at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he says immediately. "I didn't know those drawings were private. I just…liked what you were drawing and I wanted to tell you."

This time, she gives him a sideways look. "Really?"

"Well, yeah," he says, smiling victoriously. "I especially liked your sketches of famous works in your own style on the back of our homework assignment from yesterday." He points to the worksheet sticking out of her notebook.

"Um, thank you," she says hesitantly, shoving the worksheet further into her notebook to hide it completely. "But my stupid drawings aren't really for you or anyone else to see. So – "

"Of course," Austin says immediately. "I'm sorry if me seeing them or what I said made you uncomfortable."

"Yeah." She presses her lips together in a line and gets the book they've been assigned to read out of her backpack. Then she glances over at him again. "What was your name again, new kid?"

"Austin Moon," he offers. "My roommate is your friend Dez. He said you wouldn't want to be friends with me, but I thought I'd try anyway."

"I don't like people," she replies.

"So I've heard."

"That didn't scare you off? _I_ didn't scare you off?"

"Why would you scare me off?" he asks her, tilting his head.

She doesn't answer him. Instead, she asks, "You're an exchange student, right? Where are you from?"

"Italy," he replies quickly.

She raises her eyebrows at him, but before she can say anything else, the bell rings and he turns his attention to the front of the class. He feels her watching him for a few moments, but then she must realize all his focus has been given to the teacher because she starts drawing in her notebook. He makes sure not to look over. He's finally made some progress with her, and the last thing he needs is to ruin it over something stupid like that.

When the bell rings at the end of class, Austin stands by his desk and waits while Ally finishes shoving all her loose pieces of paper in her backpack. When he starts walking out alongside her, she crosses her arms and stops.

"Why are you following me?" she asks.

He looks back at her just as a few students shove past him. The strap of his backpack falls off his shoulder and onto his arm, and he stumbles forward with the shift of weight. He tries not to be embarrassed – luckily, a life in the eyes of his entire country has given him a thick skin and taught him how to hide it should he actually do something ridiculous enough to warrant embarrassment – but the way she's staring at him with so much judgment in her eyes is too much, even for him. He feels heat rise to his cheeks as he clears his throat, swings his backpack over his shoulder, and fixes his tie.

"I'm not following you," he tells her, gripping the strap of his backpack. "We were just talking before class and we're both friends with Dez, so I thought – "

"Let's get a couple things straight," she interrupts, narrowing her eyes as she looks up at him. "First of all, that 'conversation' before class was literally just me telling you to mind your own business and you spouting some crap about how it was an accident."

"I honestly didn't know you didn't want anyone seeing – " he tries.

"Second, I would hardly call my relationship with that idiot a 'friendship'. I only tolerate him because he's sometimes friends with my best friend. And third, even if Dez and I _were_ friends, that doesn't automatically make you and me friends."

"What _would_ make us friends?" he asks her.

She knits her eyebrows together and takes a step back, looking confused. "What?" The acid in her voice is gone. He actually caught her by surprise.

"Well, you said me being Dez's roommate doesn't automatically make you and me friends, so I'm asking what will."

She opens her mouth, but no words come out. Suddenly, the bell rings, signaling that they only have a minute left to get to their next class. Austin smiles at her.

"We should go. But if you think of an answer, let me know, okay?"

She closes her mouth, presses her lips together, and turns around to go to her next class. Austin sighs and goes to his.

At lunch that day, Austin finds that Ally and a girl who must be Trish have joined Dez at the table the two of them have been eating at. When Dez sees him, he grins. "Austin! You finally get to meet Trish. Trish, this is Austin."

"Hey," she says, holding out her hand.

He smiles and takes her outstretched hand, kissing the back of it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Trish."

"Uh…okay." She pulls her hand away fairly quickly.

"Sorry," Dez says. "He does that. He's Italian."

Trish looks him up and down before looking at Dez again. "You sure about that?"

He clears his throat. "My parents traveled to Italy when they were first married and loved it so much they stayed. They haven't ever told me where they're originally from, they always just both say they're from Italy."

"Interesting. I guess he can stay. He's no weirder than you, bozo."

"Hey! I'll have you know, I got a D _plus_ on my art test today," Dez exclaims.

He and Trish start bickering, and Austin starts to understand what Dez meant by "sometimes." He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly and sits down across from Ally.

"So…did you ever think of something I can do to be your friend?"

She doesn't answer, and instead focuses pointedly on her lunch. He leans back in his chair in defeat, trying to convince himself that she must not have heard him.

* * *

Austin has been making some steady progress the past few weeks: she and Trish sit with him and Dez at lunch every day now, and she seems to tolerate his presence instead of being completely annoyed with it. It's not much, but it's a start.

If he didn't feel like their friendship was going anywhere before, he definitely finds encouragement when she decides to _willingly_ spend time with him.

"As you all know, one of the major themes of this novel is the idea of a utopia and how maybe a 'perfect society' may not actually be so perfect," their English teacher begins after they take their final test on the first novel of the year. "So, you and a partner are going to try to see if you can create a better utopia than the one in the book. This means not only thinking of how your society would theoretically work, but it also includes coming up with ways to solve any hiccups in order to maintain the utopia. The full assignment is on my website, but I want you to draw me a map of your city, including any important government or administrative buildings as well as any other landmark that's important to the way your utopia runs. I also want a write-up talking about how your utopia works, a description of day-to-day life there for an average person, and at least one problem that could arise in your society that would threaten the harmony and how you would fix it. This will be due two weeks from Monday. Pick partners today and come see me to tell me who's working together."

Austin blinks a few times, processing all the information the teacher just gave him. He starts looking around the classroom for someone he could partner up with.

"Austin," Ally says from beside him. He looks over at her. "We're partners."

He raises in eyebrows in surprise, finding himself smiling. "We are?"

She crosses her arms and faces forward in her seat. "You're the only person in this class I don't hate."

"I'll take it." His smile grows as he walks up to the teacher's desk and tells her that he and Ally are partners.

When he sits back down, Ally looks at him again. "I'll meet you in the quad after school to start working on it. I wanna get this over with."

"Okay," he replies.

She's silent for a moment. "And wipe that stupid smile off your face."

* * *

After hours of working, Austin and Ally finally finish figuring out the technical aspects of their project. Austin turns another full page in his notebook and takes his blazer off, setting it down next to him on the blanket he brought out so he and Ally wouldn't have to sit on the grass. Then, he shifts from his seated position to laying on his stomach, clicking his pen thoughtfully.

"Okay, what fun details should we have? I mean, a utopia can't be a utopia without fun," he says.

Ally grabs a grape out of their almost-empty bag and tosses it in the air before catching it perfectly in her mouth. "Fruit Olympics."

He looks up at her, raising an eyebrow.

She chews the grape and swallows, shrugging. "Fruit Olympics. Like regular Olympics, but with sports like Mouth Grape-Catching, Speed Orange Peeling, Bobbing for Apples, Greased Watermelon, Lemon Eating…you know, dumb stuff like that."

Austin laughs a bit. "Where did you come up with that?"

"I'm really good at this," she explains, tossing and catching another grape in her mouth. "And if you think about it, we have a lot of fruit-related games or stuff we do with fruit that could be turned _into_ a game. Plus, sports and food all in one."

"I am truly honored to be creating a utopian society with such genius," he says.

"I can't tell if you're being funny or if you're truly serious."

He smiles and shakes his head, writing down her ideas. "There should be free pancakes at every restaurant, all day, every day."

"Let me guess. Pancakes are your favorite food?"

"Not only are they my favorite, they're the most delicious food of _all time_. Historically proven. Look it up."

She lets out a small, incredulous laugh and shakes her head at him. He grins.

"What?" she asks.

He shrugs, writing down his pancake idea. "I like your laugh."

"That wasn't a laugh. You didn't make me laugh."

He looks up at her, biting his lip to try to hide his smile but failing miserably. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, and he can almost see her retreating back behind her stoic emotional barrier. For a few moments, she was actually being herself around him. He isn't ready for that to end.

"Sorry," he says, clearing his throat. "That was a…strange cough."

She nods, and then quickly changes the subject. "Lots of parks around the city, with a lot of grass and trees, and playgrounds for kids."

He writes it down. "And free pancake carts."

"Okay, sure, and free pancake carts."

He sits up again and stretches before looking at her. Her face seems to glow in the soft orange light of the sunset. He knits his eyebrows and turns around. "The sun is setting. How long have we been working?"

"Huh. A while, I guess." He feels the blanket shift underneath them as she moves, and then she feels her arm brush against his when she sits next to him.

"Time flies when you're…doing homework."

"That's definitely not how the saying goes."

He smiles a bit, and they watch the sunset in silence.

* * *

"I thought you and Ally finished that project the other day," Dez says when Austin warns him that Ally is coming over to work on it.

"We finished the _essay_ the other day. We still have to draw a whole map with labels and everything. Which is why I'm kicking you out _now_ , so we'll be done by the time you wanna come back to go to bed."

Dez sighs. "I don't know how I feel about you and Ally getting so close."

"We've just been hanging out to work on the project."

"Uh-huh. Tell that to your stupid puppy eyes every time you come back from seeing her. I told you, she's not your type. She's just gonna hurt you. And besides, you're royalty. Not only would she ditch you if she ever found out, but she'd never be able to live up to those standards if you guys got serious."

"You're looking way into the future. We're barely halfway through first semester. And Ally doesn't even wanna be friends with me, remember?"

"You two sure seem like friends. You don't need to spend hours at a time together every day for two weeks for some stupid project."

"Hey, we didn't see each other at all over the weekend." Dez gives him a look. "I mean, we talk a little while we're working," Austin admits. "But just dumb stuff. I think she's doing it ironically. Yesterday, she asked me my favorite color. Does that seem like getting close to you? Because where I'm from, that's the definition of small talk with no substance."

"Did you ask _her_ favorite color?"

"She doesn't have one. She's real artsy, so she likes all the colors. Her favorite just depends on what she's feeling or what she's drawing or what she's inspired by at the time."

"That seems like more than small talk," Dez says knowingly.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" Austin asks. "I've liked her since the moment I saw her. You know that, it's not like I've been subtle."

"Just…be careful, okay? I'd hate for your whole American school experience to be ruined because some girl hurt you."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get out before she gets here. Please."

Dez rolls his eyes, grabs his wallet and keys, and leaves. Austin takes off his sweater vest and starts loosening his tie, but he hears a knock on the door and forgets all about it. He finds himself smiling as he opens it.

All he sees is a stack of art supplies with curly brown hair. But then Ally pokes her face out from behind it. "Hey – "

"Where do you keep all this stuff?" Austin asks, taking half the pile out of her hands to help her carry it inside. She's wearing ripped denim shorts and a plain white t-shirt, and he realizes that this is the first time he's seen her in anything other than her school uniform since the day they met.

"Everywhere. That's why I came here."

"Right." He shuts the door and sets his half of the supplies next to hers against the wall. "So, you're the art mastermind. What can I do to help?"

"I mean, I can draw the whole thing, I was just coming over here for a second pair of eyes to make sure I include everything."

"I wanna help," he says.

"You don't have to."

"Yeah, but I _want_ to."

She rolls her eyes, and he knows that she's holding back from snapping at him. She's been opening up to him in the past week, but she still keeps her artistic side locked in a safe. Plus, he knows how seriously she takes her art and how she probably thinks he'll ruin it. But he _does_ want to help.

"Fine," she finally says. "I'll draw everything and color it, and you can outline everything in sharpie and write the labels. And maybe color some parts."

He smiles. "Deal."

Ally grabs the huge poster board and a pencil out of the pile of supplies, sits up on her knees, and starts sketching. While Austin waits for her to tell him he can start doing something, he watches her. She switches between chewing on her lower lip and sticking her tongue out as she concentrates. But he only realizes that he's actually staring at her when she sits up, puts her pencil in her mouth, and ties her hair up. Luckily, she doesn't seem to notice.

"You can start outlining that half while I finish sketching it out," she says, her voice muffled by the pencil in her mouth. He clears his throat and grabs a sharpie.

For a while they work in an achingly comfortable silence, and he almost wishes that the silence was awkward because then he wouldn't feel so _damn_ close to her. He tries to remember what Dez said and repeats it in his mind. _Not only would she ditch you if she ever found out, but she'd never be able to live up to those standards if you guys got serious._

He knows Dez is right. As a prince, Austin has the future of his country to think about. If he's going to date anyone in America, he has to truly see a future with that person and believe that they would be able to handle learning his secret and then help him lead their country when they become King and Queen. The logical side of him focuses on the fact that Ally still hasn't even called him a friend yet, she would probably hate him if she found out he was lying about his identity, and she'd never want to have to deal with all the rules and standard of dating a prince and eventually being royalty. But his stupid, optimistic heart can't stop reminding him how _herself_ she's been around him and how she would never open up even a little bit to just anyone.

Then, she breaks the silence and makes everything ten times worse. "So, are you here of your own free will or did your parents ship you out of the country?"

He stops his outlining and glances over at her. "I, um, I wanted to come here. I want to learn about other places and cultures and meet other people."

She doesn't look up from her work, so he continues his. "I guess it's different because you're from another country and you're doing a cool exchange program." She finishes the sketch and sets down her pencil before grabbing a big box of colored pencils and going to work on the parts Austin has finished outlining. "I was shipped off."

"Dez told me before I met you."

She sighs. "Of course he did. Why wouldn't I want a complete stranger to know the depths of my personal life?"

"If it helps, he didn't tell me anything else. Just that your parents are super strict."

"Yeah, well, he probably would have if I had told him any more. My dad's a tech genius and my mom's a neurosurgeon."

"That's…a lot to live up to."

"You have no idea," she says, shaking her head. _Actually, I do_ , he wants to say. "Anyway, since they're both wicked smart, they expected me to be a combination of both of their brains to be even _smarter_. But they made me take advanced classes that I just wasn't ready for and all I could get were C's and a few B's. Instead of just accepting that I was trying my best or, even better, letting me move down into classes that I actually _belonged_ in, they decided I was a disappointment for not getting straight A's in the honors classes. And once I realized there was no way for me to live up to what they wanted, I just kinda…gave up. So, because they're stupid rich and have no souls, they started sending me to this overpriced boarding school so they wouldn't have to be reminded of such a disgrace every day."

Austin swallows and looks over at her again, unsure of what to say. She stops coloring for a second, keeping her eyes fixed on where her colored pencil hovers over the paper.

"That got super dark. I don't know why I just told you all of that."

"I'm…sorry?" he tries, worried that she'll think he was somehow butting into her personal life by engaging the conversation beyond what she was originally planning on sharing.

"I should be the one apologizing. I just dumped my entire life story on you."

"You don't have to apologize either. I'm glad you told me. Now I know you better. And it kinda sounded like you needed to get it off your chest. Maybe." He winces and prepares for her to snap at him for assuming that. But she doesn't.

"Maybe I did."

She keeps working and quickly changes the subject to something more lighthearted. He does his best to pay attention and be present in the conversation, but he's distracted trying to process everything she just told him while trying not to acknowledge the fact that they really do have a lot in common.

They finish the map a while later and stand up to admire their work. Ally's drawings and beautiful coloring mixed with Austin's superb outlining and labeling skills have created what he thinks is the most beautiful map of a utopian society ever. (Sure, the competition is pretty narrow, but still.)

"Ours is gonna be the best in the class," she says.

He looks over at her, and he notices the small smile on her face. However, he _doesn't_ notice what a bad situation he's put himself in until she looks at him and he realizes how close they are. He swallows, trying so hard to move away from her but unable to. He does his best not to think about how she isn't moving away either.

But when her gaze breaks away from his as her eyes shift down to where he _knows_ she's looking at his lips, all bets are off. It's like the entire room is frozen in time, holding its breath, waiting to see what'll happen next.

Before he can stop himself, he hears "May I kiss you?" in his own hesitant, whispered voice. He holds his breath again immediately after uttering those words, just _knowing_ that nothing good can come from this and mentally slapping himself for not being stronger.

Her lips part slightly in surprise as those big, beautiful, mesmerizing brown eyes meet his again. Her cheeks tint pink, as if she's only just hearing him.

Then, all at once, the entire room exhales and time starts moving again as she grabs the tie still loose around his neck, pulls him towards her, and kisses him. He closes his eyes as a breath he didn't even know he was still holding escapes through his nose in a deep sigh before he actually registers what's happening. He inhales sharply again and kisses her back, grabbing her face in his hands and running his thumbs over her cheekbones to make sure she's _actually_ there kissing him.

She loosens her grip on his tie and pulls away just enough for him to feel her lips curve into a small smile as she wraps her arms around his neck. Then she kisses him again, and time seems to slow down again. He takes one hand off her cheek and wraps his arm around her, even though the prince in him is screaming that this is all completely inappropriate and rude to her. _She doesn't know you're a prince and she kissed you. Get out of my head so I can enjoy this._ He wraps his other arm around her waist and pulls her in closer.

As much as time felt like it slowed down, she pulls away again way too soon. But she rests her forehead against his and lifts her chin so their noses bump together gently. A few beautiful, silent moments pass.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," she says barely above a whisper as she catches her breath. "I did not know I was gonna do that until about three seconds after I did it."

He smiles, laughing a bit, almost awestruck as he replays everything that just happened in his mind. "I'm gonna be honest with _you_. I didn't know you were gonna do that either." She laughs too, and he smiles more. "So…does this mean we're friends now?"

She pulls farther away, and he opens his eyes to see her already looking up at him, her cheeks pink and a tiny smile on her face despite the look she's trying to give him. He moves a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear, unfazed by her failed attempt at an annoyed look.

"You are… _so_ beautiful, Ally," he marvels quietly.

Her face scrunches up. "Now that we're being honest with each other, I'm not great with compliments. I don't get very many, so I don't really know how to react to them." She pauses for a second. "I'm really just spilling my soul to you today."

He chuckles. "Well, now that everything is officially out on the table, you're gonna start getting a lot more."

"Wait…you've liked me this whole time?"

He raises his eyebrows at her, laughing incredulously. "Are you kidding?"

She shrugs innocently. "I don't know! I just thought you were, like, weirdly nice. I don't know much about Italian culture. Maybe that's just how everyone is."

He laughs more and shakes his head, pulling her into him for a hug and resting his chin on her shoulder. "I like you," he tells her.

"I…think I like you too," she replies. He smiles and pulls away to look at her again.

"So…could I maybe take you out? On a date? Tomorrow?"

She nods, biting her lip to try to contain her smile. "I'd like that very much."

* * *

"Is the blindfold really necessary?" Ally asks as she stumbles yet again while he leads her to the location of their date.

"It really is," Austin replies with a smile, squeezing her hands as he holds them to guide her.

"Should I have dressed differently for this? You didn't give me any details."

"You look beautiful."

"Are you taking me into the woods to murder me?"

Austin laughs. "Ally, breathe! We're almost there."

The brunette sighs. "Sorry. I don't know if you picked it up already, but I'm not really the romantic type." Austin stops walking, and Ally bumps into him. "Are we there?"

He takes a deep breath and lets go of her hands. "Don't take the blindfold off just yet, okay?" he says quickly when he sees her already reaching up to take it off.

"Okay…please don't murder me."

"I'm not gonna murder you," Austin says as he straightens out the picnic blanket he laid out for them and lights the candles he surrounded it with.

"Promise?"

"Promise. One of these days we're gonna work on your trust issues." He opens the picnic basket and pulls out the roses he hid inside. Once he double checks that all the food is still there, he stands up straight in front of her.

"Whoa, let's demolish one wall at a time, Moon. I can't believe I'm on, like, an actual _date_ right now."

He smiles. "You can take off the blindfold now." She starts untying it, and he continues. "You may not be the romance type…" She takes off the blindfold, and he hands her the roses. "But I am."

He steps aside so she can see his entire setup of the picnic blanket and candles and rose petals that Dez told him not to include but he did anyway. Her eyes go wide as she takes it all in. She looks down at the bouquet of roses in her arms as if she can't believe it's real and then turns to him, blushing rosy pink. He smiles sheepishly, and then bites his lip as the nerves set in.

"Too much?" he asks her.

She looks at the roses and the setup again. " _Way_ too much." He swallows, regretting every decision he's ever made. Then she looks at him, an emotion he didn't even think she could feel etched across her face and woven through her smile: _giddiness_. "I love it."

He chokes on his own nerves. "You-you love it?"

"I love it!"

She hugs him tightly, and picks her up and spins a few times, laughing in relief. "I thought you hated it," he exhales when he sets her down. "I wanted to do something big but when we got here I realized that you might be overwhelmed."

"I'm _extremely_ overwhelmed," she says, looking around at everything again. "But…in the best way."

He smiles, and then she smiles, and then they sit down and eat and talk and everything is _great_. When she shivers as the sun gets lower in the sky, he tries to give her his jacket. She refuses a couple of times, insisting that she's fine, but he knowsshe secretly wants it, so he keeps offering until she finally gives in and lets him wrap it around her shoulders, that giddy look back on her face.

He realizes this must be the first time anyone has done something like this for her, the first time anyone's ever treated her as special as she deserves. She's grown up under the impression that she can't ever be good enough, and this is the first time anyone has ever shown her that she is _more_ than good enough.

So when they finish eating, he wraps an arm around her and pulls her extra close as they watch the sunset. She makes a pointed effort not to totally be close to him, but she doesn't seem uncomfortable either. He looks over at her, but she keeps staring ahead.

"Just like that first day," she says softly.

"Like a week ago?" he teases.

She smiles a bit and turns to look at him. "May I kiss you?" she asks, those big brown eyes sparkling.

He grins and presses his lips to hers for a few moments. He feels her relax under the arm he has around her as she kisses him back. When he pulls away to watch the sunset again, she rests her head on his shoulder. He closes his eyes and kisses her hair before resting his cheek on her head and marveling at how lucky he is to be watching such a beautiful sunset with such a beautiful, amazing girl.

Once the sun disappears from view and the sky is painted a million colors (although it pales in comparison to her art), he kisses her again. (And again and again and again and again and again.)

Then they lay down and stare up at the stars starting to twinkle into view. He rests his free hand behind his head while she starts pointing out constellations.

"How do you know all these?" he asks after a while.

"We have a cabin in the middle of nowhere," she says. "We'd go up there for a few days a couple times a year, and since it's so far away from the city, you can see a _million_ stars from there. When I was little, my parents would point out the constellations and tell me the stories."

"And now you can pass them on to me."

She doesn't respond, and instead turns fully on her side and moves even closer to him, nuzzling her ice-cold nose in his neck. He feels her eyelashes on his skin as she closes her eyes, and she relaxes even more as he brushes his thumb in gentle circles on her shoulder.

Laying there, with her, he feels like he's exactly where he's supposed to be. He forgets that he's hiding pretty much his entire identity from her. He forgets he's royalty at all. Hell, for a while he forgets his own name. But he likes it, _loves it_. It's okay, because he's with her, and he feels her hair tickling his arm and her soft, steady exhales on his neck and her hand on his chest where she kept moving it until she could feel his heartbeat. Everything is good.


	2. Chapter 2

Austin sighs in defeat as Ally beats him yet again at some video game he doesn't quite understand. He leans back against the wall where he's sitting on Ally's bed. "I don't think I'm doing this right."

"You're definitely not doing it right," comes her voice from where she's hanging upside-down off the end of the bed. Apparently it helps her focus.

"I still don't know if I understand how to play."

"No, you do," she says. "You're just _really_ bad at it." Austin frowns, and Ally sits up to look at him with a victorious smile, her face flushed after being upside-down for so long.

"I never got to play video games back home. You have an unfair advantage."

Ally rolls her eyes and takes his controller, setting both of them down next to the TV. "How did you not get to play video games?"

"I never had time."

"Please. You _never_ had enough free time to sit down and play a single video game? What were you doing?"

He swallows and looks away from her. "Studying. Lots of studying. Always." He stands up quickly as she climbs back on her bed. She frowns at him.

"You're being weird again. And I know what you just said is BS."

"Well…I was just busy. Lots of, um, Italian things to do."

"Lots of Italian things to do," she says skeptically. He scratches the back of his neck and nods, and then she gets off the bed and stands in front of him. "Okay, look. I'm not gonna press you because clearly you don't wanna tell me and I trust you, but please don't lie to me. If you don't wanna tell me something, just say that."

He looks down at her, smiling slightly. "You trust me?" he asks her.

She rolls her eyes, but there's a small smile on her face too. "Of course that's all you got from that. But we've been dating for three months. I'd sure _hope_ I trust you." He finds himself smiling more, but she interrupts him before he can get too excited. "I still have trust issues. You're just…the exception. And that's only because we've been dating for three months and you're a rare kind of person."

"What about Trish? She's your best friend," he says.

"It's not that I don't _want_ to trust her. I just…physically can't."

"What makes me different? Other than being your boyfriend."

"You're the kind of person who would apologize to a bee as it's dying because it stung you."

He wrinkles his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't understand."

"It doesn't matter what makes me trust you," Ally says quickly. "What matters is that I do, so I won't push you to tell me things you don't want to share. You do the same for me all the time."

"It's not that I don't _want_ to tell you," he starts. "I just…can't. Yet."

"And that's _okay_. Just don't lie about it, you know?"

He nods, frowning at the realization of how often he seems to have to lie to her, and how every time he sees her make the same face she's making now. She's known he's been hiding something, and she hasn't tried to push it. He suddenly hates himself for every lie he's ever told her, and for ever putting that look on her face. "I'm sorry, Ally."

Her features soften. "I'm not mad. You know that, right?"

"I'm still sorry. I don't want you to ever feel like you can't trust me anymore because I couldn't tell you – "

"Austin. If there is anyone in the _world_ who probably isn't even capable of doing something bad enough to lose my trust, it's you."

He glances at her, a small smile on his face again at her sweet comment. "That's not saying much. You have trust issues and you hate everyone."

She lets out that little laugh she does in those special moments where she lets her guard down for a split second and he can see her being fully and completely _Ally_ , with no walls in her mind holding her back or keeping him out. He finds himself smiling a little more as the rare musical sound of that tiny laugh makes every negative thought in his head disappear before his eyes.

"And yet I trust you." She looks up at him, and he sees that the moment has passed and her walls are back up, but he knows that they've been taking them down together, brick by brick, so it's okay. She's still wearing that little smile that still manages to light up the room, and those deep brown eyes are twinkling as if she managed to capture the constellations she loves so much in them.

"Kiss me?" he asks hopefully.

And then that tiny smile lights _him_ up, and even though their eyes are closed now he can still see her constellation eyes etched in his mind. She wraps her arms around him, but he pulls away before they can get any closer. When he opens his eyes to meet hers again, she looks slightly disappointed.

"I, um, I should go," he stammers quietly, his heart beating painfully against his chest. "I'm sorry."

He starts walking out, but she grabs his hand. "Did I do something wrong?" she asks, a frown on her face now. He can almost see the walls in her mind slowly building back up.

"No, no, not at all," he says quickly, grabbing her other hand gently. Then he blushes, and he hates how his eighteen years of training to be cool in every situation are no help when it comes to her. "I just…um, can't get carried away. You know?" He mentally slaps himself. _Idiot_.

"Oh. Okay. I should probably start that English paper that's due tomorrow, anyway." She gives him a small smile, and he knows that everything's okay but that she still knows there's something he isn't telling her.

He presses his lips together in a tight line, wanting nothing more than to just kiss her again and tell her everything and then kiss her some more, but he knows he can't. Who knows how she'll react to him hiding basically his entire identity from her? And besides, she may not know he's royalty, but _he_ knows it and he's been taught his whole life that he really shouldn't even kiss anyone until after they've been official for at least six months.

He lifts one of her hands to his lips and kisses the back of it gently. Her cheeks turn red and her nose scrunches a little like it does every time he does anything remotely chivalrous or romantic, but he sees her smile turn genuine anyway.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says. "I'm sorry."

He releases her hands and she sighs and waves goodbye to him before he walks out. As soon as she shuts the door behind him, he exhales and runs a hand through his hair. The longer he's with her, the harder it is to keep his secret. Dez was right: she's going to find him out.

He walks back to his dorm and collapses on his bed, shutting his eyes for a few minutes and taking some deep breaths. Then he grabs his phone and calls his mother.

"Hello, darling, is everything alright?" comes her worried voice over the line.

"Not really," he admits. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Well…that depends on how you react." He takes a deep breath. "I met a girl here, and…we've kinda been dating for the past three months."

His mother gasps softly. "Three months? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

He sits up, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. "I was worried you'd be upset. Are you?"

"I'm upset you didn't tell me. I don't mind that her title may not be as high as yours – "

"Actually, she doesn't have a title at all," he says nervously. "But her father's a tech genius and her mother is a neurosurgeon."

"Austin, darling, you know that as the future leader of Ocheria, you need to put the wellbeing of your country over your own wishes."

"She's really great," Austin tries. "And we're only eighteen. I don't have to start thinking about any real future for another few years. Can't I just be happy with her?"

"You know that just isn't possible."

Austin chews on his lower lip. "Mother, _please_ – "

"And she can never know you have royal blood. She would never be able to understand what that means and she could start using you."

"She would never do that. And she trusts me. I want to tell her the truth."

"No, Austin. That's final."

"She understands me, though!" He hesitates when he hears his voice raise to a blatantly disrespectful volume. He takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he says quietly. "That was uncalled for. I just think that maybe if you met her you'd change your mind. If you care about title because you're worried she'll use me for my status, you don't have to worry about it. Her family is extremely wealthy and both her parents are well-known across the country. She knows what it's like."

"She has no sort of leadership experience."

"Mother, we're _eighteen_. Who-who knows if we'll even last long enough for that to be a problem?" His heart turns into a rock at the thought of ever losing her, but he'll try anything to gain his mother's approval, at least for now.

"You need to be thinking about the future with every girl you're serious about. We told you that you couldn't be a normal American teenager, Austin. You're going to be King in just a few short years."

"I know that," he says with a sigh. "She's _amazing_ , Mother. Can't you just give her a chance?"

"I can't. This is just one of the sacrifices you have to make for your country. She can never know your true title, and you will break up with her before your exchange program is over. Goodbye."

She hangs up, and Austin drops his phone onto his bed and buries his face in his hands, wanting nothing more than to scream. Just then, the door opens and he quickly looks up to see who entered.

"You okay, buddy?" Dez asks, raising his eyebrows.

Austin sighs and shakes his head. "I told my mother about Ally. She doesn't approve."

Dez walks over to his own bed and sits on the edge of it, facing Austin. "Most royal parents don't approve of their kids dating Americans."

"What do they do about it?"

Dez shrugs. "Keep dating until their girlfriend or boyfriend finds out they're royalty and breaks up with them or they have to go home."

Austin frowns more. "Is there any scenario where they stayed together?"

Dez shakes his head. "Not yet. But that doesn't mean you and Ally can't be the first!" he suggests optimistically.

"I don't want to lose her," Austin says.

"I know you don't, buddy," Dez replies. "And trust me, Ally's more scared of losing you than you are of losing her."

"What? Why? How do you know that?"

Dez's eyes widen. "Uh…did I say that? It was just me guessing. I don't really know for sure." Austin looks at him, and he exhales loudly. " _Fine_! You broke me! Trish told me Ally's talked about it. She knows there's something you're not telling her, and she's worried that you're pulling away because she isn't giving you the relationship you want. You know, since you're all big on chivalry and romance and she hates all that."

Austin feels his heart drop. "She thinks that?"

"I mean, I'm sure Trish was exaggerating. I didn't – "

"I have to go," Austin interrupts. "Sorry."

He rushes back to Ally's dorm and knocks quickly. She opens the door a few seconds later and smiles a bit.

"You're back," she says.

"I'm back," he responds nervously. "Am I interrupting you working on that paper?"

"We both know I'm not gonna do it." She opens the door wider so he can come in, and he sees a mess of colored pencils on her desk surrounding her notebook. He looks at her again before he accidentally sees what she's drawing.

"I can come back – "

"Austin, come on. I know you care about me and want me to do well, but I don't."

He watches her for a few seconds, trying to think of what to say to her that won't reveal everything he knows. But she speaks before he has to.

"So, I never got to ask you. Winter break's in a couple weeks, are you going back home to Italy to be with your family?"

He swallows and nods. "Uh…yeah. What're you doing for winter break?"

"I'll probably go spend it with Trish's family."

"Your parents don't even want to spend the holidays with their only daughter?" he asks her with a frown.

"Nope." She shrugs. "It's fine, though. I'd rather not spend my break and the holidays hearing about how much I've disappointed them throughout my life."

He clenches his jaw to try to stop himself from saying what he wants to say. But she knows him too well, and she looks up at him with those eyes and opens her mouth, probably to ask him if he's okay, and he loses his control.

"What if you came with me?" he blurts.

Her eyes widen slightly and her lips part in surprise, and he can't help but think of that moment right before she kissed him for the first time when she looked exactly like that, complete with the blush that's starting to creep onto her cheeks.

"Back to Italy? For two weeks?"

"Forget I said anything," he says quickly. "I know you don't like big stuff like that. I – I don't know why I said that. I'm – "

"Do you _want_ me to come spend winter break with you?"

He chews on his lower lip nervously, his mind at war with itself over what he should tell her. If he says yes, he risks scaring her off with something so big and possibly ruining things with her. But he also risks the slight possibility of her agreeing, which would open up a whole new set of problems. If he says no, though, it'll probably confirm her fears that he isn't happy being with her, which he knows will hurt her and he won't be able to do anything to make her feel better. He swallows and looks at her, nodding nervously.

"I mean…If – If you want to. But you probably don't, which I totally get and that's totally fine. I was just thinking about how much I'd miss you and how it'd be the perfect time for you to meet my family – I mean, if that's something you wanted to do. But I know that's a big step and you wanna take it slow which I'm _fine_ with, and now I've probably freaked you out and I'm really sorry and I don't want to put you in an uncomfortable position so _please_ don't feel like you have to say yes because of me because I'm totally okay with forgetting I ever said that in the first place, but I wanted to make sure you knew that if you _did_ want to come, I'd be totally okay with that too." He feels heat rise to his cheeks as he forces himself to stop rambling, and he looks down at the ground. He isn't ready to see the look in her eyes just yet.

"I…think I'd like that," she says after a few agonizing moments of silence.

He snaps his eyes up to meet hers. "You would?"

She nods, smiling a little. "I wanna see everything that made you into the person you are."

He smiles too, his breath catching in his throat. And he's so caught up in his relief that she wasn't freaked out and his _excitement_ that she actually wants to take such a big step with him that he completely forgets the blaring problem that now she's going to find out he's royalty and he can't stop it.

* * *

He bounces his leg nervously as he sits next to Ally in the cab taking them to the small port where the Moons' private ferry is waiting to take them to Ocheria. She's looking out the window with the same look on her face she gets when she looks at the stars, and he can't do anything but watch her and hate himself for not being brave enough to tell her the truth.

"Are you okay?" she suddenly asks him. He looks at her and realizes the worried look on her face.

"Yes," he says quickly. "I just haven't been home in a while. Anticipation."

"Are you nervous to introduce me to your family? I get it if you are. I'm trying really hard not to freak out right now. I'm not exactly the girl you bring home."

"Ally, come on," Austin says, taking her hand and putting all his focus into trying to comfort her so he doesn't have to think about…anything else. "You're too hard on yourself."

"Well – " She stops talking as the cab slows to a stop at the port. Austin takes a deep breath and pays the driver, and then he and Ally get out of the car with their luggage. "This doesn't look like a house," Ally says with a frown. "You really are gonna murder me, aren't you?"

"No. C'mon." He holds out his hand, and she takes it, and together they walk to where the ferry is bobbing peacefully in the water, its white paint almost too bright to look at and the name _Moonbeam_ in gold lettering sparkling in the sunlight.

"This isn't some surprise huge romantic date, is it? I'm really jetlagged, and I don't – "

"Not a date," he says. Then he pauses. "I'm sorry for interrupting, that was rude."

One of the members of the ferry's staff meets them outside the entrance to the bottom deck and offers Austin a deep bow. "Welcome back, Your Highness." Austin glances at Ally, whose eyebrows are scrunched together in confusion. "And who might you be, Miss?"

"This is Ally," Austin says quickly. "I'm sorry, Christopher, but, um, we're both really jetlagged, so could we maybe get going?"

"Of course, Your Highness. Go inside and rest. I'll stow your luggage and notify the captain." The man bows again, and Austin mutters a quick thank you before resting a hand on Ally's back and ushering her inside.

"Austin…what's going on?"

"Do you want something to drink? Are you hungry?" he asks her, trying to avoid the inevitable at all costs.

"Why did that guy call you 'Your Highness'? And why is there no one else on this boat? And how did he know who you were in the first place? And how did _you_ know _him_?"

"Um…"

Ally takes a deep breath. "Okay, I know I said I wouldn't push and that I trust you, and I do, but I'm about to meet your _family_ and I feel like whatever is going on is something I should know going into it."

"Well, um, yeah, you…you're right." Austin stammers. The two of them stumble a little as the ferry starts moving.

Before Austin can continue speaking, Christopher walks back over and bows again. "Your Highness, would you or Lady Ally like anything to drink?"

Austin swallows, watching Ally. "We're okay, thanks. Uh…could we have a minute?"

"Of course. We'll be landing on Ocheria in about an hour." One more bow, and then Christopher walks out of the room.

"What the hell is Ocheria?" Ally asks.

"Right. Okay. Um…so, here's the thing. I haven't been, um…completely forthright with you about my identity."

Her eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. "Austin…"

"I'm not Italian. I mean, I basically am. Ocheria, the country I'm from, is just off the coast of Italy and we share a lot of the same culture and language and everything."

"I've never heard of Ocheria."

"No one has. It's a really tiny country."

"Okay… Why couldn't you tell me you were from Ocheria?"

"Because…" He trails off, at a loss for words. "I'm not just _from_ Ocheria. I'm…sorta part of the Royal Family…"

Ally's eyebrows shoot up so high Austin's worried they'll fly off her forehead. " _What_?"

Austin scratches the back of his neck, avoiding her eyes. "Yeah…I'm kinda the Crown Prince of Ocheria. Or whatever."

"You're the _prince_? And you didn't think to tell me until we were on a boat to go meet your family?!"

Austin winces. "Well, here's the thing. I wanted to tell you, Ally. I've wanted to tell you _so bad_ , but I'm wasn't allowed. If anyone other than Dez and Dean Williams found out, my parents would make me come home and they'd never let be go back to America. Plus…I was worried it would scare you off."

"Well, you had good reason to worry! Why didn't you tell me before I agreed to come meet the freaking Royal Family of some country I've never heard of?!"

"Because technically I'm still not allowed to tell anyone and my family might not know you're coming because I only just recently told them about you and I wanted them to meet you and see how great you are so they'll let me be with you even know you don't technically hold any titles," Austin says all in one breath.

Ally takes a deep breath, and Austin doesn't think he's ever seen her show this much emotion. Unfortunately, all that emotion is a mixture of anger and fear and it's all directed at him. "So…you're trying to tell me that we are currently on a boat to go meet your parents – the _King and Queen_ of this…Ocheria – and not only do they have no idea I'm coming, but I'm not even supposed to know all this exists?!"

"Ally, I'm _so_ sorry!" Austin says quickly. "I wanted to tell you, but if I told you, they'd – "

"Austin, I don't care that you weren't allowed to tell me. I care that you invited me to come _home_ with you for two weeks behind your parents' backs knowing full well they don't approve of me, and then waiting to tell me you're _royalty_ until we're on a boat an hour away from your country! What were you thinking?!"

Austin shrinks away from her. "I wasn't thinking! I – I mean, I was, but all I could think about was how I didn't wanna lose you – "

"And bringing me home to your royal, disapproving parents with no warning was your best idea for how _not_ to lose me?"

"When they meet you, they'll love you!"

"No, Austin! They won't! I'm not the girl you introduce to mom and dad in a _normal_ family, much less in a _royal_ one! You probably have all these sweet, smart, proper princesses lined up to be with you, why do _you_ even want me?!"

"Because you're _you_ , Ally!" He takes a deep breath and grabs her hands. "Forgive me if I'm overstepping my bounds right now, but while we're getting everything out on the table, I've loved you since the moment I saw you." She starts opening her mouth to protest, but he keeps talking. "I have. And it may not be love at first sight, but I _know_ that once my parents get to know you they'll love you as much as I do."

"Austin, you're basically asking me to go in there and make a _fool_ out of myself in front of two people who could probably have me killed in about two seconds."

"They can't – "

"I'm already a disappointment and a disgrace to _my_ parents. I'm not about to turn you into one for yours."

"Ally, you won't do that! You're charming, and funny, and sweet, and – "

"You know you're the only one who thinks that."

"Ally, _please_ ," Austin begs. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you, and I'm sorry for inviting you without giving you all the information, and I'm sorry for not telling my parents, and I'm sorry for inviting you even though they slightly disapprove, and I'm sorry for waiting to tell you all this until the last minute, but _please_ give this a chance. You told me you've been to a million dumb fancy parties, you know exactly what you're doing!"

"An eight-year-old being cute and schmoozing with other rich people's kids is _very_ different from meeting your prince boyfriend's king and queen parents."

"Ally, I'll do anything – "

"I don't even know you anymore! I'm not gonna go be an even bigger embarrassing disappointment than I already am. _Your Highness_." She walks past him and up to the upper deck of the ferry, and Austin stands frozen in his spot, tears pricking at his eyes.

Is he surprised that she reacted the way she did? Absolutely not. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, especially knowing that apparently she wouldn't have been mad if he had just told her earlier. If he was willing to go behind his parents' backs to bring her here, why couldn't he have just gone behind their backs to tell her he was a prince before this whole mess even happened? He curses under his breath and instantly feels guilty for it, covering his mouth and shutting his eyes for a few seconds before opening them again.

"Ally, please wait," he calls, finally unfreezing and following her to the upper deck.

She's leaning on the railing, staring out at where the tiny figure of Ocheria is just starting to come into view. He walks up and stands next to her hesitantly, but she doesn't move away from him.

When she doesn't say anything for a while, he speaks up quietly. "I am _so_ sorry, Ally. I know I should've told you a long time ago, at least before you agreed to come here with me. But…you _do_ know me. I've been nothing but myself with you, honest. And you're not gonna embarrass yourself. They're gonna love you once they meet you."

"You don't _know_ that."

"Sure I do," he says. "You're awesome." She doesn't look at him or say anything, and he sighs. "I know I broke your trust. And I'm more sorry than you can even imagine. I, um, I understand if you wanna go home and have nothing to do with me anymore – "

"You're an _idiot_ ," she mutters. She finally looks at him, and he swallows nervously. "What part of you thought any of this was a good idea? Bringing me here, not telling me till now, being with me at all?"

"The part of me that loves you," he tells her desperately. She presses her lips together as her cheeks turn pink, and he sees her retreating back into her own mind. "I'm sorry. I know you don't like when I say anything like that, and I know I probably sound crazy because we've only been together a few months, but it's true. I'm with you because I love you. I brought you here because I love you. And I didn't tell you because…I was scared I'd lose you. And I guess I didn't wanna think about the possibility of what could happen if you found out, and then I was in too deep. Ally, I'll do _anything_ to make this right."

"What am I supposed to say to that?" she asks. "I don't know _how_ you make this right."

He chews on his lower lip, beating himself up inside because this really is all his fault. "Does – does this mean we're…" He trails off, unable to find the heart to even say it.

Her eyes roam over his face for a few seconds, and then she closes them and takes a deep breath. "I don't want it to come to that." She opens her eyes again and holds his gaze. "I don't want to lose you either, you know. This may come as a shock to you, but I _do_ actually like you."

He finds himself smiling just a bit. Even though he knows she likes him and she knows he knows it, she still doesn't say it out loud very often. Her cheeks tint pink again as soon as the words leave her mouth. "So…what can I do to fix this?" he asks her.

She sighs and shakes her head, running a hand through her hair. "I honestly don't know, Austin. I'm just _freaking_ out right now."

"I'm sorry – "

"I know you're sorry."

He chews his lower lip, trying to think of something better to say to try to fix this or at least ease her nerves about meeting his family. But nothing comes to mind. If he's being honest, he's kind of freaking out too.

Suddenly, she grabs his wrist and wraps his arm around her waist. He freezes in surprise for a second, but then he rests his hand on her stomach and wraps his other arm around her too.

"Whatever happens, we're in this together, right?" she asks.

He squeezes his eyes shut and kisses the top of her head, almost too afraid to believe she's giving him another chance in case it's too good to be true.

"We're in this together," he agrees.

* * *

He and Ally sit in silence in the back of the bulletproof car taking them to the castle. He can still feel the anger and fear radiating off her, which he completely understands, but she's still squeezing his hand across the middle seat. He tries to think of something to say to comfort her or to express just how sorry he truly is, but no words come to mind.

"How was the trip here, Your Highness? And have you been enjoying America so far?" the driver asks.

"The trip was all right, and yes, I've been enjoying it," he responds distractedly.

"And you, Miss? The king and queen will be thrilled to know the prince has found such a beautiful lady."

Austin hears Ally's breath hitch at the reminder of where they're going and the fact that Austin's royalty. He brushes his thumb in gentle circles on the back of her hand to try to make her feel better, but he knows he isn't really helping.

"Oh, um…the trip was fine. Thanks," she finally says. Then she clears her throat. "When exactly are we gonna get there?"

"Just a few minutes," the driver responds. "You can see the castle right up ahead."

Ally looks at the window and gasps, and then she quickly tries to cover it up with a cough. Without taking her eyes off the castle, she says, "Its…big."

"The Moon family has been living and ruling Ocheria from it for generations," the driver continues. "In just a few years the crown will be turned over to Prince Austin."

Austin clears his throat as he feels Ally's grip on his hand tighten. "Ally probably doesn't care about all that boring stuff, George," he says.

"Well, if she's a prospective future queen – "

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves!" Austin squeaks quickly, wincing at the pain Ally's causing his hand now.

"My apologies, Your Highness."

As the castle draws closer and closer, Austin sees Ally's jaw drop farther and farther. She doesn't manage to close her mouth until after they've driven through the massive golden gates at the entrance to the castle grounds and gotten out of the car.

"I thought my house was big," she mutters.

"I'm sorry for overwhelming you. This is a lot."

"No kidding."

He offers out his hand nervously, and she hesitates before taking it. He links her arm through his and takes a deep breath before leading her inside.

"Your Highness!" a maid exclaims enthusiastically as soon as they enter the castle. She offers a curtsey and then looks at Ally. "We had no idea you were bringing a lady! Forgive us, we'll go prepare a room immediately!" She scurries off before Austin can even get a word in.

Just then, the two regal figures of Austin's parents float into the room, and he swallows and gives them a small bow. He feels Ally attempt a nervous, clumsy curtsey beside him.

"Mother. Father," Austin says when he stands back up. He tries to keep his voice even and hide all his nerves. He hopes it's working.

"Austin, darling, welcome home," his mother says, walking over and placing a kiss on his forehead. His father shakes his hand wordlessly, but Austin is too busy watching his mother scan Ally up and down to pay much attention. "This isn't…the girl…is it?"

He takes a deep breath, feeling Ally's hand shaking as she grips his arm. "Mother, Father, this is Ally Dawson. My girlfriend."

Her mother lifts her chin, failing to mask the distasteful look on her face. But his father nods his head to Ally politely.

"It, um, it's nice to meet you…er – Your Highnesses…?" she tries.

Austin's heart aches for her and he feels guiltier than he did before. Especially when his mother's distasteful look turns into one of cold amusement.

"Austin tells me you have experience in such a…unique lifestyle as ours, despite not being a lady of any sort of title yourself," she says.

"Mother, please," Austin says before Ally can open her mouth.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Dawson," Austin's father quickly interjects. "Son, why don't you give her a tour and then you two can rest after your long trip? We can catch up at dinner."

Austin nods and leads Ally away from his mother's judgment and anger. As soon as they've walked down the hall, Ally exhales.

"She hates me. She met me and she still hates me. I made a complete fool of myself. Austin, I can't do this."

"Hey, breathe, it's okay," Austin tells her, stopping and resting his hands on her shoulders. "I shouldn't have dragged you into this. But I'm sure my father will talk to her."

"I don't even know what to say or how to act! Why did you tell them I have experience?!"

"Well…you grew up wealthy, I just thought – "

"My parents have been sending me away because I'm such a disgrace! Do you _really_ think I'm all groomed and proper?"

"Ally, we're in this together, remember? I'll help you. And I'll be by your side the entire time you're here, okay? It'll all be okay."

"If you weren't the only person I have right now, I wouldn't be talking to you."

Austin swallows. "That's understandable. But I got you into this mess, and I'm gonna help get you through it."

"Austin, you know I don't like people and I don't know how to fake it. How the _hell_ am I supposed to act like the 'lady' you're supposed to be with?!"

"You don't have to act like anyone but yourself, okay? I don't _want_ you to be anyone but yourself, even if that means my parents don't like it."

"Okay, but for the first time ever, I actually _want_ them to like me!"

He tries not to smile because he knows how serious the situation is, but he can't really help it. "You do?"

She rolls her eyes. "Don't make a big deal about it. Look, this is my first real relationship and you're the first guy who's ever _actually_ liked me, flaws and weird issues and all. I want your parents to like me too."

"Ally, just be yourself. You're charming and funny and endearing – "

"I don't think they'll agree."

"Well…there's only one way to find out, right?" he tries, giving her a hopeful smile. She responds with a blank stare, and he sighs. "Okay, I'm obviously not just gonna leave you to fend for yourself. But I love you because you're _you_ – "

"Please stop saying you love me."

"And I want my parents to know the Ally Dawson _I_ know."

Ally presses her lips together in a tight line before closing her eyes and nodding slowly. When she looks at him again, he bites his lip to try to hide his smile and raises his eyebrows questioningly. She rolls her eyes and stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and he hugs her tightly.

"If you were anyone else, I'd be on the next flight home," she tells him as she wraps her arms around him too, a softness in her voice that he doesn't get to hear often.

"I'm so lucky I'm not anyone else, then."

She's silent for a second. Then, her muffled voice mumbles, "So am I," into his chest.

* * *

"So, Ally, where did you grow up?" the king asks as the four of them eat dinner in the grand dining room.

"Miami, Florida," she replies. "I traveled around the world a lot with my da – er, father, because my mother couldn't be home much and he was always going to different countries to release his technology. But Ocheria is the most beautiful place I've ever visited."

Austin smiles slightly as he chews his food. Just a few pointers as he took her on the tour of the castle, and now it's like she's been conversing with royalty her whole life.

"We pride ourselves on our scenery," Austin's father says. "Thank you."

"Um…thank you for having me here, Your Majesty," Ally tries. Austin knows she's trying to show off that she knows his parents' proper titles now, and he's proud of her, but his mother looks unimpressed.

"We didn't receive notice you were coming until you arrived," she says.

"That was my fault, Mother. Don't blame Ally," Austin pipes up. A butler comes and clears his and Ally's empty plates. "And, um, if you'll excuse us, we're both pretty jetlagged. I'm going to show Ally to her room and then we'd both like to go to sleep."

Austin's father nods. "Goodnight, son. Goodnight, Ally."

Austin stands up, and Ally follows. He quickly leads her out of the room and upstairs, sighing in relief once he's sure they're out of his parents' earshot.

"You did great, Ally!"

"I did? Your mom didn't seem to think so."

"You really, really did."

They arrive at her room and Austin follows her in to help her unpack her bags.

"You know…you've been telling me to be myself with your parents, but you're not acting quite yourself with them either," she says.

Austin scratches the back of his neck. "Well, I actually am. America changed me a little, made me more relaxed and less prince-ly than I used to be."

"And you're afraid to show your parents that you're a _slightly_ different person because people don't ever change?"

"Uh…something like that. But I'll ease them into it, y'know?"

"You're worried they'll think I'm a bad influence." She crosses her arms knowingly.

"I'm worried they'll think _America's_ a bad influence. I want them to let me go back after break."

"And you don't wanna make my case worse."

"That sounds bad."

Ally takes a deep breath. "I can't believe how much I'm putting myself through for you." She shakes her head, and Austin bites his lower lip.

"I'm sorry. Are you still mad?"

She shakes her head again. "No, I'm not mad, I just…" When she looks up at him, he finds relief in the constellations twinkling back to life in her dark eyes. "I can't believe I actually found someone that I don't feel like I'll ever get tired of being around."

He smiles a little, raising his eyebrows. "Really?"

She smiles a little too. "Get that stupid smile off your face, you dork. You already knew that."

Instead, he smiles more. "I dunno, sometimes it seems like you're sick of me. And it's still nice hearing you say that."

"Please. You know if I ever got sick of you I'd tell you."

"Yeah. That doesn't mean I don't worry that you're _gonna_ tell me."

"I'm gonna tell you right now that I think you're the _only_ person I'll never get sick of." His smile widens, and she rests her hands on his stomach before wrapping her arms around his waist, still looking up at him with those sparkling eyes. "And as much as romantic sentiments make me cringe…I really, _really_ like you. Not love, because I don't really like that word and we're taking baby steps, but…if there's anyone I'd let myself fall in love with, it's you." She pauses and her face scrunches up. "That was so cheesy. The entire world is cringing right now. I hate myself for saying that."

He laughs. "Ouch."

She smiles more. "I'm not saying I didn't mean it. I just said it in one of the grossest ways possible."

"I'm gonna kiss you now. Is that okay?" he asks her.

"Please do," she replies as soon as the words leave his mouth.

He starts leaning down and she closes her eyes, but then he hesitates.

"Is…everything okay?" she asks hesitantly, opening one eye and then the other.

"Technically I'm not supposed to kiss someone until we've been dating officially for six months," he tells her. "It's rude and disrespectful."

"I'm not offended," she says. "Are you?"

"No. You're sure you're okay?"

"Austin, _I_ kissed _you_ first, remember? And that was before we started dating. I'm okay. Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just…worried about someone walking in."

Ally tilts her head up and kisses his cheek. "Then we're better safe than sorry." She pulls away from him and smiles, but he knows she's just as disappointed as he feels.

"I should go," he says. "I gotta unpack too."

"Okay," she replies, walking over to where her suitcase is sitting next to her bed. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah." He walks towards the door and reaches for the handle, but then he hesitates. Instead of opening the door, he mutters, "Screw it," and turns the lock before marching back over to her, taking her hand to turn her around, and kissing her.

She immediately sighs and kisses him back, and he wraps his free arm around her and rests his hand on her back. Then he lets go of her hand to hold the back of her head, getting his fingers wrapped up and tangled in her messy curls. She grabs the collar of his shirt and pulls him down as close to her as he can get, leaning back so he's sort of half-dipping her.

Then she pulls away just barely, and he realizes what he's just done.

"I'm _so_ sorry," he stammers, standing up straight and letting go of her as he tries to catch his breath. "I – "

Her breathless laugh interrupts him. "That was…hot," she says. "Not a word I thought I'd ever use to describe you."

"That came out of nowhere. I have no idea what came over me. I'm so sorry."

"Austin, it's okay!" she laughs again. A _real_ laugh. His head starts spinning. "It'd be even _more_ okay if you kissed me again."

He chuckles nervously, his heart still pounding as he glances in her eyes and feels his cheeks turn red. "Really? I got kinda carried away…"

"Dude, I only pulled away to take a breath. You're good. If you want to kiss me again, this is _literally_ me asking you to kiss me again."

He smiles as the constellations in her eyes get so bright they're almost blinding, and then he wraps his arms around her and kisses her again. She smiles slightly against his lips and combs her fingers through his hair. His heart pounds and he pulls away again, pressing his forehead against hers.

"You've never actually made out with anyone before, have you?" she asks quietly. He can feel her lips curve into a knowing smile.

"You have?"

"Once or twice. How you feeling?"

He feels heat rise to his cheeks. "Embarrassed. Kinda guilty."

"Guilty?"

"I've grown up around people who taught me it's rude to kiss a girl even a little bit less than six months into a relationship. This is kissing you a lot when half that has gone by."

"Well, you're used to American culture now. I don't think it's rude. You don't have to feel guilty. But we can stop if you want, just be honest."

He feels himself blush even more. "I don't."

"No? Then don't be guilty, because I don't either."

"I still am."

"Why?"

"For…thinking things…"

She giggles, a laugh he hasn't really heard before, and it sort of makes him feel better. " _That's_ why you've been weird about kissing me lately."

He doesn't say anything, and she pulls away farther to look up at him. He immediately misses the warmth of her chest against his. He imagines he probably looks about as red as a tomato right now, and he avoids her eyes.

"You said to be honest. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. You can slap me."

"Austin! I don't care if you grew up royalty or whatever, you are a _teenage boy_ who's attracted to his girlfriend!" She laughs again, and he chews his lower lip and looks at her. "You know I'm not afraid to tell you when I'm upset or uncomfortable or anything else." She grabs his hands. "And you know I'm always honest with you. So believe me when I tell you that you are the _sweetest_ , most respectful eighteen-year-old boy in the entire world, okay?"

"You deserve better."

She squeezes his hands and shakes her head. "You're the best there is. If anything, _you_ deserve better. But somehow, you love me – " he smiles at her acknowledgement that he actually loves her, and she smiles a little too " – and I am the _luckiest_ girl in the world because of it." He watches her, and she presses a soft kiss to his lips. "Now let's both go to bed, okay?"

"Okay…" He lets go of her hands and unlocks the door before turning back to look at her. "Goodnight, Ally."

She smiles. "Goodnight, Austin."

* * *

 **lmao this turned out way longer than i thought it would so now this is a 3 shot**

 **anyway, thank you guys for giving me such a warm welcome! i'm sorry i've been MIA for the past few months, but i've missed you all so much and i'm so happy to be back! thanks for sticking with me :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Austin takes a deep breath and slowly opens the door to his mother's office. "Mother? You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, darling, come in and have a seat," she says, looking up from her work. He swallows and sits down in front of her desk. "I'm going to make this quick. I'm sorry, but you will not be returning to America with Ally for the spring semester."

It takes a few seconds for him to process what she just said, but then Austin's face falls, and his heart drops down to his stomach. He was expecting something like this, but that doesn't mean it doesn't kill him hearing it out loud. "Why?"

"You know why, Austin. You cannot be with Ally. She holds no title, has no leadership experience, and could never be a queen. I know you say you don't want to think about the future yet, but it will be here much sooner than you think. It's better that you two break up amicably because of the distance than for you to tell her you've been betrothed to another woman a few years from now."

"Mother, she makes me so happy – "

"Unfortunately, as Prince you must put your country before your own happiness. I'm sorry, darling, but I'm not budging on this matter."

Austin tries to swallow the lump in his throat and clenches his jaw as he stands up. He turns and walks out before he says anything to his mother that he'll regret, and he storms back up to his room angrily. But before he goes in, he takes a deep breath. He has to enjoy every moment of these last couple of days with Ally.

He opens the door and finds Ally exactly where he left her: napping peacefully on his bed. (She claims that the bed in his room is more comfortable than the guest bed she's sleeping in, but he has a sneaking suspicion that she just wants to be near him.) Before he can debate whether or not he should risk her wrath if he wakes her up, her face scrunches up and she stretches, her eyes fluttering open.

He smiles a little, but then he bites his lip as he walks over to the bed and sits across from her. "Hey, uh, I kinda need to talk to you."

Ally frowns and sits up, watching him. "That sounds ominous."

"Well…it's not a fun talk."

She frowns more. "Are you breaking up with me?"

His eyes widen. "No!" He grabs her hands. "No, no, no, I'm not breaking up with you. It's just…" He looks away from her and takes a deep breath. "My mother sorta forbade me from coming back to school with you after break. I have to stay here."

She doesn't say anything for a while, and when he finally works up the courage to look at her he wishes he hadn't. He hates himself for being the reason she has that look on her face.

"O – oh," she finally says, pulling her hands away from him gently. "Right." She clears her throat, and he can see her already building new walls in her mind. "I understand. I mean, you're a prince and I'm nowhere near royalty. Your mother is just thinking about what's best for the country."

"Ally, I'm _so_ sorry – "

"What is there to be sorry about?" she asks quickly, picking at his bedsheets and avoiding his eyes. "This wasn't your choice, and I already knew your mom didn't think I was good for you or Ocheria. We both should've seen this coming."

"Don't say that. I'm gonna keep talking to her. This doesn't mean we have to break up," he tries.

She finally looks up at him, and the pain in her eyes is almost unbearable to look at. "Austin, we'll probably never see each other again."

"That's not true – "

"Look, I know you're always the optimist, but we're gonna be on opposite sides of the world. And besides, if we don't break up now, we'll have to eventually so you can marry a princess or whatever." She stands up from the bed and starts walking to the door. He scrambles up after her.

"Ally, wait. Please." She stops and turns to look at him, and he swallows nervously. "I – I know you aren't big on putting too much into relationships, but I don't want this to be the end of us. Can't we at least _try_?"

She presses her lips together in a tight line, and all he wants to do is go back in time and never invite her to Ocheria and never tell his mother about her. Then they wouldn't have all these problems.

When she doesn't say anything for a while, he takes a deep breath and keeps talking. "I get it if you wanna just break up now. But…can't we at least enjoy these last few days we have together?"

"I don't want to break up," she mutters, staring at the floor.

He feels his heart finally start beating again. "O – Okay. Then let's not break up."

She hugs him tightly without looking at him, and he sighs and hugs her back, not feeling as relieved as he should be.

* * *

"Austin, you're acting weird." He smiles nervously and tries to wipe his sweaty palms on his pants without her noticing. But she does. "Tell me what's going on."

"Well…you know how I told you I couldn't come back to school with you the other day?"

"I had almost forgotten for a second."

"And you know how we decided that we should just focus on being together before you leave, so yesterday and this morning all we did was stay in my room and watch movies and play all those video games we got and make out and then almost get caught making out and – "

"Are you going somewhere with this?"

He swallows, the nerves continuing to build up. He knows she isn't actually mad at him, but this whole situation and the pain it's causing has his girlfriend pretty on edge. "Yes. I am. You know I enjoyed all of that very much, but I thought that maybe we could do something different since it's your last night here."

"What did you do?" she asks, crossing her arms.

"Okay, so, I know you don't like big romantic stuff, but I thought that maybe since we won't see each other in person for a long time after tomorrow, you might let me sweep you off your feet a little bit? Just for tonight?"

She lifts her chin slightly and watches him warily. "A _little_ bit," she finally says. "But Austin Moon, I swear if you look at me and tell me you love me for _reals_ , I'm locking myself in my room until the ferry leaves tomorrow."

He grins, despite her threat. "Deal. I'm really glad you agreed because I sorta already set everything up. My lady?" He holds out his arm, and she narrows her eyes at him for a second before linking her arm through his.

"You knew I was going to agree," she says as he leads her down the hall.

"I hoped you would. It's a little hard to be certain."

"Well, as much as romantic stuff makes me nauseous…it's not so bad coming from you."

He smiles and walks with her out to the castle gardens, where he unlinks their arms and grabs her hand instead. She smiles a little too, looking around at all the perfectly kept flowers and trees in the garden. As they walk along the cobblestone path, he finds himself unable to enjoy the beauty of the gardens because he's too busy watching her.

"Walk in the garden," she says as she looks around. "Not _too_ romantic. I like it."

He grabs a bright purple flower off a bush as they walk past it and hands it to her. She takes it, trying and failing not to smile.

"Yeah, I thought I'd ease you into it," he teases.

"Ah. I should've known there'd be more."

He smiles again and brings her hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it, and he pretends not to see the pink tint her cheeks take on (even though they both know it's there).

* * *

"And Austin Moon takes home yet _another_ gold for Ocheria in Mouth Grape-Catching! The crowd goes wild!" Austin exclaims victoriously, mimicking a cheering crowd. "Ocheria has officially wonthis year's Fruit Olympics with _substantially_ more gold medals than the U.S., but Ally Dawson brought her home country enough gold and silver to snag second place."

Ally rolls her eyes and throws another grape at him, laughing. "Oh, shut up," she says, her eyes twinkling. "I let you win."

"No way," Austin says, grinning and tossing a grape back at her. She catches it in her mouth. "Face it, Ally. I'm just better at fruit sports than you."

"When did you get so cocky?" she asks, looking slightly impressed.

"I'm not cocky. I'm just running on the high of winning the Fruit Olympics. I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a kid."

She laughs more, which makes him smile more, because he still doesn't hear that sound often enough and he loves it more than any other sound in the world.

"But we should probably get going," he says, looking up at the sky. "Sun's gonna set soon."

"First a picnic, and now another big romantic sunset date? You're killing me, Moon." But she's still smiling.

He grins and stands up, holding out his hand. "I wouldn't be me if I _didn't_ take you on a sunset date."

"No, I guess not," she admits, taking his hand and standing up. He leads her back inside the castle. "Can I get real with you for a sec?" she asks as they walk down the hall.

"You can always be real with me."

"I know, but I mean, like, _really_ real."

"You can always be the _realest_ of reals with me," he tells her.

He sees her smile a little out of the corner of his eye, but a split second later she's looking at the ground and her face is hidden by her hair. "Right. Well, when you first invited me to come home with you and meet your family and stuff, I thought maybe it would be my chance to find a family who actually cares about me, even just a little. But then you turned out to be a prince and your parents understandably don't like me, and with them not letting you come back with me on top of it, I just…I'm really bummed out."

He frowns and stops at the bottom of the staircase, turning to look at her. "Hey, I know the situation isn't the best right now, but we'll figure it out." He forces a tiny smile and squeezes her hand so she looks up at him. "If I somehow managed to earn your affections, I'm pretty sure I can do anything."

She rolls her eyes, which he knows means he made her feel a little better. "Please," she says. "If anything, it's crazy that _you_ like _me_."

"I'm not playing this game with you," he says. "Besides, we have a sunset to catch. C'mon." He smiles at her and leads her up the stairs to the roof of the castle, where he's set up another blanket near the edge with a perfect view of the sunset. There's more greenery up here, too, and Ally smiles a little. She walks over to the blanket in a daze, dragging him behind her.

"Wow," she mutters as she looks out at the view of the city from where they are. "This view is incredible."

He looks over at her. "Not nearly as incredible as this one."

She looks at him and scrunches her face. "That was too much. Very cringey. But thank you."

He grins. "Your criticism has been noted. However, I stand by what I said. You do look beautiful, love."

"Love?"

"I'm sticking to that one."

Her cheeks turn pink again. "Oh…screw you."

Austin laughs and they sit down on the blanket together as Ally presses her hands to her cheeks to cool them down. He swallows and glances over at her, worried that she might actually be upset with him, but she's watching the sunset and smiling softly, so he breathes a sigh of relief.

"I wish I had my art supplies. This view with the sunset would be amazing to paint," she says absentmindedly, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Next time," he says quietly, resting his cheek on her head.

"Next time," she echoes, and then lifts her head from his shoulder. He frowns and looks over at her, meeting her gaze. "Because there _will_ be a next time."

He smiles a little. "Of course there will."

She nods once and then looks out at the sunset again, and the orange glow in the sky illuminates her face the same way it did on their first date. He wraps an arm around her tightly, already missing her even though she isn't even gone yet.

As the sky turns dark, Ally starts pointing out the constellations like she always does. Austin listens to the stories behind them intently, but he can't bring himself to look up at the stars she's talking about. He just watches her, listens to the confidence in her voice as she spouts information he doesn't know about, and he wonders if she even realizes how smart she really is. Her starry eyes twinkle more than usual, especially because the constellations in the sky are reflecting in them.

When she finishes a few stories and is silent for a while, Austin clears his throat. "I wanna show you something," he says, standing up and holding out his hand.

She takes it and stands up, a small smile on her face. "There's _more_?" She doesn't even bother trying to act annoyed, and he smiles at her.

"There's always more, love."

He leads her across the rooftop to a massive dome. He opens the door for her and she eyes him warily.

"You're gonna kill me, aren't you?"

He laughs and takes her hand again, leading her inside. "I'm still not gonna kill you," he says, turning on the lights. "This is the observatory. Since you love the stars and constellations so much, I thought you'd like it."

She grins and immediately rushes over to the massive telescope in the center of the room, leaving him to follow. He presses a button and the dome opens up, revealing the starry sky still above them. Ally puts her eye to the telescope.

"This is so cool!" she exclaims. "I want one."

"I'll give you one," he says, absentmindedly messing with some maps of stars on the table next to him.

"You don't have to do that. I can get one."

"I know. But I would, if you wanted me to."

Ally stands up straight and looks over at him, her eyebrows scrunched together. "You okay?"

He nods, meeting her gaze. "I just…want you to know that I'd do anything for you."

"Anything is a big word. But thank you – "

"I mean it," he says, watching her earnestly and searching for the message in her eyes he's dying to see. "Even if it was something I'm not supposed to do. Like going back with you, or – "

"That's what this is about," she interrupts. "I'm gonna stop you right there. As much as I wish you could come back with me, and as sweet as it is, I'm not letting you go behind your mom's back and risk the future of your country for me. You said yourself, we'll figure something out. But you running away with me is not the answer. Even if it is sorta very romantic that you would do that."

"C'mon, Ally. You hate rules. I thought you'd love the idea."

"Not this time. Your mom has a point."

He frowns at her. "But I want to be with you. I'll do anything to make it happen."

Ally sighs. "It's like you're a prince from a damn Disney movie."

"I am a prince."

She walks over to him and rests her hands on his cheeks. "You're staying here like your mom wants. Please don't do anything stupid that'll get you in trouble." He keeps frowning at her. "Promise me?"

He sighs and nods, and she stands on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. Then, she wraps her arms loosely around his neck and looks up at him again. He watches her, resting his hands on her back.

"Thank you for today," she says after a few silent moments.

"Even though it was romantic?"

She smiles. " _Because_ it was romantic."

He raises his eyebrows, smiling back at her. "You liked it?"

Ally does her little laugh, which makes Austin smile more. "Turns out, I kinda like a little romance when it's coming from you. But don't let that give you too many ideas. I'm still really bad at being romantic."

"You're not bad."

"Earlier I told you that if you said you loved me I'd lock myself in my room until it was time to leave tomorrow."

"Hey, a month ago you would've said you'd break up with me. We're making progress."

She laughs again, so he laughs, and for a few quick seconds he forgets that she's leaving in a matter of hours and he won't see her for who knows how long. But then they stop laughing, and he remembers, and it sucks.

* * *

"You're sure you have everything? Maybe we should sweep the castle one more time just to be sure – "

"I have everything, Austin," Ally interrupts, zipping her suitcase. They're in her room, and she's leaving in a matter of minutes, and Austin is just about ready to call one of Ocheria's enemies and beg them to lay siege to the island so Ally doesn't have to go.

"Hey, come on. I don't want my last image of you in person to be you frowning and pouting," she says, walking over to him and pressing a kiss to his cheek. He glances at her, still feeling pretty miserable. His heart pangs painfully and he looks away quickly. "Austin, you really wanna spend our last moments together feeling bad for yourself? Because I don't."

He sighs and shakes his head. "I could still run away – "

"No. You're staying here."

"It's like you don't even _want_ me to try to be with you," he mumbles grumpily. He knows he sounds like an immature brat, but he can't help it. Plus, she really has been _way_ too okay with all this. He needs to see her show some sort of emotion or sign that she really will miss him before she leaves.

Ally raises her eyebrows at him. "Okay, I know you're upset and you don't actually believe that, but I'm gonna need you to take a deep breath and try to snap out of it."

He hoists her suitcase off the bed wordlessly and sets it down next to her, avoiding her eyes. She's right, and he knows it, but he refuses to just pretend like everything is fine and dandy when his heart is being ripped out and sent to the other side of the world without him.

"Come on, Austin, we had so much fun these past two weeks! Don't let it end on a bad note. Especially because you know how hard it is for me to be the optimistic one."

He finally looks at her, and he realizes that she's just barely holding it together. He hasn't really looked at her much today because he's been too busy sulking, but she looks like a mess. There are dark circles under her eyes like she didn't get much sleep last night, and it looks like she only made a half-hearted attempt to look presentable. Her eyes are glassy and her nose is red, like she rubbed it with tissues all night. She's just as miserable as he is, but she's forcing herself to be strong and optimistic for him. She's far from okay with this, but she somehow knew that showing it today would send him into a mental breakdown.

He wraps his arms around her and pulls her into him, squeezing his eyes shut and burying his face in her neck. Her entire body sags in his arms as she hugs him back, and he knows she can't be strong anymore. He isn't surprised when he feels her tears seeping through his shirt.

He takes a deep breath, inhaling her scent, memorizing it, and braces himself to take the weight of being the strong one off her shoulders. When he pulls away from her, she has tears streaking down her face. He realizes with a start that this is the first time he's ever seen her cry.

"I hate crying," she mutters shakily, wiping her cheeks with her hands and then looking at the tears with disgust. "But this _sucks_ , Moon."

"We'll talk every day," he promises, taking her face in his hands and wiping the fresh tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "I'll even write you love letters. That way, you'll be so annoyed with me you won't even _want_ to see me."

She laughs a little and sniffles, finally meeting his eyes. Normally he'd find comfort in her starry eyes, but the constellations look like they're trembling because of her tears. "If you write me love letters, I might sneak back here and kill you." But he knows she doesn't mean it.

"At least I'd get to see you."

She rolls her eyes and wipes her face again. He drops his arms.

"No use delaying the inevitable any more than we already have," she says, grabbing her suitcase. He purses his lips and nods, and they walk downstairs together wordlessly, although he does giggle a little as Ally struggles to get her suitcase down the steps.

The King and Queen are waiting for them in the foyer, the big doors already open and a car waiting for Ally outside. His mother won't even let him go to the dock with her, so this is it.

"Thank you for having me here," she says to his parents with her best, albeit still a little awkward, curtsey. "I'm sorry if I, um, got in the way of any of your plans."

Austin's mother watches her coldly, but his father offers her a warm smile. "It's been a pleasure getting to know you, Ally."

Ally glances at the Queen and swallows, but she responds with a nervous smile. Then she looks at Austin, and he takes a deep breath. He walks her out to the car, trying to put together the words he wants to say.

They stop next to the car, and he opens his mouth, but she beats him to it. "This isn't goodbye," she blurts. "So don't…don't say goodbye."

He nods and clears his throat, watching the driver load her luggage in the trunk so he doesn't have to see those eyes just yet. "Right. Can I make a speech?"

"Small one, or you're gonna make me cry again, and I'm gonna have to punch you in front of your parents and a bunch of armed guards."

He smiles a little and finally manages to look at her. "Just a couple things. I'm really sorry for not telling you who I am sooner. I know we're past it now, but it was still a really lousy thing for me to do, especially with all my speeches about how you can trust me. But you _can_ trust me. I never wanna keep anything from you again."

She nods. "I know."

"Okay, um, second, I just wanna say that despite everything, it was really fun having you here. And it's just been a really fun three – well, almost four now – months with you, and even though we aren't gonna be in the same country, I'm sure we'll find a way to make all the future months fun too."

She smiles a little at that. "I really do love it here. And you know that these past few months of you have been the best of my life, don't you? And I know I'm gonna cringe so hard when I think back on saying this later, but you're truly the best thing that's ever happened to me."

He bites his lip, his heart pounding. He doesn't quite trust himself to say anything else yet without breaking down. He wants to kiss her. He wants to kiss her _so bad_ and he knows she wants to kiss him too but his parents are watching and his mother would probably have an aneurism. He settles for taking her hand and kissing the back of it, and he knows she understands.

He opens the car door for her and she takes a deep breath. "Thank you for everything," she says. She starts turning to get in the car but he catches her hand.

"One last thing," he says quickly. Then he finds himself smiling genuinely, despite how sad he is and how serious he is about what he's about to say, because he already knows what her reaction is going to be. "I love you. For _reals_."

Her lips part in surprise and her cheeks tint pink, and he can't help but be reminded of the day she kissed him for the first time. Her eyes meet his, and he's pretty sure he can see the constellations twinkling brighter than before. Then she swallows and narrows her eyes at him, her cheeks turning from pink to bright red.

"I told you – "

"I already said it, Ally. Can't take it back now. You're just gonna have to live with the fact that there's somebody in this world who loves you, and it's me. I love you."

The blush spreads from her cheeks to the roots of her hair and the base of her neck, and she whacks his chest lightly. "Stop it."

She's reacting pretty much how he expected, but it's so very _her_ that he can't help but laugh, and he even forgets how sad he is for a few seconds. "Stop what?" he asks in between giggles.

She seems to realize that he's just teasing her now, and she rolls her eyes. Her face is still red as a tomato. "Got anything else to say, Romeo?"

He smiles and kisses her forehead. "Have a safe trip, love. And call me when you get home."

"' _Have a safe trip, love_ ,'" she mocks with one of her famous eye rolls. She turns to get in the car again, but then she looks back at him one more time, all the annoyance magically gone from her expression and replaced by…uncertainty? "You really do love me?" she asks softly, and he can tell she genuinely wants him to say yes but she's also mad at herself for asking.

"I really do love you, Ally," he promises.

She opens her mouth to respond, but then she closes it again, looking away from him and biting her lip as her fading blush fires up again.

"You don't have to say it back," he tells her. "I know it's touchy for you."

"I'll see you soon," she manages, looking in his eyes one more time. He nods in agreement, and she gets in the car.

He waves to her, and she waves back, and then he shuts the door before he loses control and jumps in next to her, which would get them both in trouble. He watches the car drive away, and he stays staring in the direction it went long after it disappears from view.

* * *

It's a rough couple of months. He talks to Ally every day, but his mother has increased his classes to "better prepare him for the very near future," which he takes to mean "distract him from Ally as much as possible." The time difference doesn't make things any easier, but they manage.

A couple weeks after she left, he borrowed the Royal Photographer's camera and took pictures of Ocheria from the roof where he took her that last night she was here. He got a shot at every time of the day, and he sent all the pictures to her along with a letter telling her why he sent them. Now, he gets a new painting or drawing or sketch of that view from her every few days. His favorite, though, is a watercolor painting she did of the sunset from the rooftop. The sunset is beautiful, of course, but the reason it's his favorite is because she drew a dark silhouette of a kissing couple in the foreground. And because it's the first picture she sent him, which means it represents the first time she wanted him to see her art.

Unfortunately, they seem to argue every time they talk. He's slowly been making plans to sneak back to America to be with her, but for some reason she refuses to support him.

"I don't care about the future of Ocheria if it means I can't be with you," he tells her on the phone one day as he paces the length of his room. He's said that line so many times he feels like a broken record.

"You know that's not true," comes her tired voice on the other end. She just woke up, but he can tell that the tone in her voice isn't just sleepiness.

"It _is_ true."

"If you run off to be with me, there's no chance of your mother ever accepting me." At this point, it sounds rehearsed. "Then we'll really have no future."

"Do you even want a future with me?"

"Not if it means you have to abandon your family and leave your country without a leader."

"You don't mean that. When – if – I run away to be with you, you'll be okay with it. All you ever do is break rules."

"Austin, I mean it." Her tone goes from tired to harsh in a snap, and Austin swallows.

"I just…miss you."

"I miss you too. But that doesn't mean we can just drop everything and abandon all our responsibilities and run away together."

He sighs. "I know."

He hears her shift in bed on the other line. "How're your classes so far today?"

"Fine," he says. "My mother only intensified my schedule to distract me from you."

"Doesn't seem to be working."

"It's not. How's school? Are you passing your classes?"

"Yes, _mom_ ," she teases.

He smiles a little. "How're Dez and Trish?"

"They're good. Dez misses you. He came up with this elaborate story about how your parents had to pull you out of the exchange program to start teaching you to continue the family pasta business. I didn't have the heart to tell him I know the truth. Although I don't know how he hasn't put together that I came home with you for winter break so I had to find out who you are."

"He told me about the cover-up," Austin says, smiling more, but then he hesitates. "Wait, isn't Trish in there with you?"

"Don't worry. When she's asleep, I could literally be screaming bloody murder in my bed and she wouldn't wake up."

"Right."

He hears her yawn, and then she sighs. "I should probably start getting ready. I can't scrape by in my classes if I don't attend them, unfortunately."

He chuckles. "You're doing great, love."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you later. Be a good little prince and try to focus on _your_ classes, okay? If I can do it, so can you."

"Fine. For you."

He hears the smile in her voice when she says, "Bye, Austin." Then she hangs up, and he sighs, feeling drained.

Just then, he hears a knock on the door and his mother walks into the room, carrying an envelope.

"Austin, I'd like to speak with you," she says.

"You already are," he mutters, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Austin, please," his mother says, tapping the envelope against the palm of her free hand nervously.

Wait. _Nervously_? Mimi Moon doesn't get nervous.

He watches her warily as she sits next to him on his bed. She doesn't say anything for a while, and instead looks at all of Ally's art hanging on his walls.

Finally, she takes a deep breath. "I know you miss Ally."

He bites back a sarcastic reply. Prince Austin Moon wouldn't dare talk back to his mother. No matter how badly he wants to.

"You aren't supposed to see this," she says, handing him the envelope. "But I want you to read it."

He holds it gingerly in his hands, as if it might explode any second. Now that he's looking at it closely, he recognizes Ally's handwriting, tall letters squished closely together in dark ink. The return address is the school.

"Ally wrote to you?" he asks his mother, still staring at the envelope.

She doesn't say anything. He opens the letter and pulls out a few pieces of paper stapled together. The one on top is a normal lined sheet of paper in her handwriting, and the two underneath it are printer paper. He swallows and starts reading.

 _Your Majesty,_

 _I want to start off by saying that I did research about whether handwritten or typed letters were more respectful for royalty, and I got mixed answers. So, to be safe, I also included a typed version of this letter. And also a version translated into Italian, if that's what you prefer. Although, I would ask you to read the English version along with it, because when I translated the letter back from Italian, I'm not sure it conveyed what I'm trying to say._

 _Second, I know you don't like me and you don't approve of me for Austin, much less for Ocheria, and I get it. Austin and I may be young still, but you have to always be thinking big picture, and I understand why I wouldn't really fit into that picture. But please, I wouldn't be bothering you by writing this if it wasn't important, so don't burn this letter just yet._

 _I really shouldn't be telling you this, but I think Austin is genuinely considering running away and coming back here to be with me. I've told him not to a million times, even though I thought he was joking at first, but now I'm not so sure. I don't know what exactly you can do, but please don't punish him. The last thing I want to do is get him in trouble. But the future of your country wouldn't look so great if the prince ran away and had to be exiled or something because of it. Ocheria is the most beautiful place I've ever been, and I don't want Austin to throw away the future and livelihood of all your people because of me. So maybe just have some guards or something keep an extra eye on him? I don't know. I just felt like I had to tell you. I care about Austin too much to let him make such a huge, rash mistake._

 _Also, I was thinking another solution is maybe letting him see me a few times? You could send him here for a weekend, or I could come there where we could be under constant supervision or whatever you wanted. I just think that maybe being together might boost his mood and help him focus more on his king classes (I'm sorry, I don't know what to call them). I won't be surprised or disappointed if you don't want him seeing me anymore, and I really don't want to be disrespectful. I genuinely just want the best for him and your country._

 _If you read the whole thing, thank you. I'm sorry again if this was a waste of your time or bothering you or if you got the letter too late and he's already gone. I should've written sooner, but since Austin doesn't know about this, I spent days researching trying to make sure I did this right. Thanks again for listening. I hope Austin's okay._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Ally Dawson_

Austin swallows and glances over at his mother when he's done reading. He isn't sure whether the lump in his throat is anger at Ally for telling her about his idea to run away, or fear that his mother will punish him and take away all means of communication with Ally, or just _sadness_ and longing for his girlfriend.

"So…I'm in trouble?"

His mother takes a deep breath. "Is it true? Have you been planning to run away?"

"Mother, I love Ally. I care about being King someday, but I care about her more."

"You allow your emotions to govern your choices without thinking them through," his mother says wearily. She pauses, and then continues. "Ally seems to be a voice of reason for you." He looks down at the letter again so he doesn't have to have his hopes crushed by the disappointment in his mother's face. "This girl must really care for you if she's willing to sacrifice your trust and possibly your entire relationship because she wants the best for you. She cares about the future of a country she only found out about a few months ago. I may have been wrong about her."

Austin tries his best to keep his heart rate under control and prevent his hopes from getting too high, but he risks a glance at his mother. "What…what are you saying?" he asks her hesitantly, already afraid of the answer.

She smiles softly. "I'm saying that your father reminded me that we can teach anyone the basics of being a queen, but nobody can be taught how to love a person as much as you and Ally clearly love each other."

He swallows. _If this is a dream,_ he tells his subconscious, _it's a really cruel one._

"I have decided to allow you to return to America to finish the school year and graduate from Seaside Academy."

Austin's heart pounds. _It's too good to be true._ He digs his fingernails into his palm to try to force himself to wake up, but this seems to actually be happening. "Are – are you serious?" he asks her.

She smiles a little more at his reaction and nods. "I believe Ally deserves a second chance with a more open mind on my part."

Austin breaks into a smile. "Thank you!" he exclaims. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He hugs his mother tightly, which seems to surprise her, but she hugs him back.

"You will still be focusing on your studies, right?"

He pulls away to look at her. "Of course," he says quickly. "Study, study, study. That's what school's for. I should pack!"

He stands up and grabs his suitcase, throwing clothes into it while his mind reels. He vaguely registers his mother laughing, a sound even rarer than Ally's.

* * *

Austin scares Dez so much when he walks into the dorm, he falls out of his bed.

"Austin! You're back! What happened? What are you doing here?!"

"My mother let me come back!" He grins and hugs the redhead. "I missed you, buddy."

"I missed you too. Ally's been meaner than usual with you gone. But don't let that scare you. Go see her and we'll talk later!"

Austin laughs and silently thanks his friend for being so understanding. Then he rushes to Ally's dorm, takes a deep breath, and knocks on the door.

Trish opens it, and her eyes go wide as saucers.

" – _fine_ , Trish," he hears Ally saying. He looks over Trish's shoulder and sees Ally's legs sticking out from under her bed, where she's probably looking for art supplies. "With Austin gone, I'm just putting more time into my art. I miss him, but really, I'm okay. Is someone at the door?"

"Uh-huh," Trish manages.

"Don't let them in if it's someone I don't like. Where did I put my stupid – "

"It's someone you like," Trish says.

"Is it Dez? If this is about his dumb project – "

"It's not Dez," Trish interrupts again.

"There's literally no one else here I like. Did you forget about Austin again and try to hook me up with some guy?" Austin frowns and opens his mouth, but Trish gestures for him to be quiet. "Trish, Austin's my first ever boyfriend, and I came to you freaking out _last week_ and told you I love him. How do you keep forgetting about his existence?" Austin chokes and starts coughing, and Trish grins and winks at him before rushing out the door. She shoves him inside the dorm and closes the door behind him.

"Ugh, _finally_ I found it. Trish?" Ally crawls out from under her bed and stands up before she sees Austin. Her jaw drops, and so does the box of oil pastels in her hand.

He tries to smile at her, but it's probably distorted by the shock he still feels over hearing that she loves him. _She loves him!_ "Um…hi." The Crown Prince of Ocheria, trained on the art of eloquence from birth, and that was all he could come up with.

"Austin!" She runs over and hugs him, which takes him by surprise, but then she pushes him away before he can even hug her back. "What are you doing here?! Did you run away?! Austin Moon, I swear if you ran away – "

"You love me?"

"You first."

He exhales impatiently. "No, I didn't run away. My mom got your letter and decided that you're a good influence on me, so she let me come back. Thanks for ratting me out, by the way. But none of that matters. You _love_ me?!"

Ally swallows, her cheeks turning bright red. He can't help but smile. He missed her _so much_. "I don't know what you're talking about," she says, crossing her arms.

"Yes you do. I heard you tell Trish."

"I don't recall…"

"C'mon, Ally. I told you my big secret, so now it's your turn. And we haven't seen each other in months."

She rolls her eyes and looks at him, throwing her arms up in defeat. "You know what? Fine. I love you, Austin Moon, and if anyone has anything to say about it, they are cordially invited to _suck it_."

He grins, despite the pain of his racing, pounding heartbeat, and raises his hand. "I have something to say about it."

She glares at him, her cheeks still red as tomatoes. He knows she's just finally letting out all the frustrating emotions she's been keeping bottled up these past few months, so his smile doesn't waver.

"I love you, too."

She grits her teeth and storms over to him, but he can see those constellation eyes his missed so much dancing. She can't fool him.

"You're an asshole," she mutters, but she grabs his collar, pushes him against the door, and kisses him for the first time in months.

As he wraps his arms around her and gets his fingers tangled in her hair and inhales her scent, he feels her lips curving into a smile and her body relax in his arms. Now, everything is perfect.

* * *

 **ahhhhhh i hope you guys liked it! thank you so much for reading, and i hope you like the ending :) thanks twitter friends for supporting me in all caps and yelling at me to keep writing there's no way i can make it w/o u :,)**


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